Method for making tie plates



Oct. 23, 1956 T. E. I Ewls, JR

mon FOR MAKING TIE PLATES' 2 sheets-smet 1 Filed Jah. '7, 3.953.

26N* FHS.. 2- @i Oct. 23, 1956 T. E. I Ewls, JR 2,767,455

METHOD FOR MAKING TIE PLATES k Filed Jan. 7, 195s v z'sheetS-sheet 2FIELE- llu' 1"/ E S I ff FIE- 4- f7 )Imm j W I Ml. fhl v/0 54T diilnited? States Patent O METHOD FOR MAKING TIE PLATES Thomas E. Lewis,Jr., Johnstown, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, acorporation of New Jersey Application January 7, 1953, Serial No.329,952

1 Claim. (Cl. 29-16) This invention relates to the manufacture of tieplates and, in particular, to the hot-forging of a tie-plate blank toform from the material thereof a hook or lug upstanding from one face ofthe plate, yadapted to engage the iiange of a rail supported by theplate.

Tie plates are used in large numbers and economy in the manufacturingcost is important because of the competitive condition of the market. Itis the object of my invention, therefore, to provide a method andapparatus whereby tie plates may be produced at a lower cost thanheretofore. A further object is the production of a more uniform andaccurately dimensioned tie plate than that resulting from the practicepreviously employed.

In a preferred practice of the invention, I shear fiat bar stock tolength and punch the spike holes therein, thus forming a blank. I thenheat one end of the blank to forging temperature and subject it to apunching operation to displace partially from the blank the metalrequired to form the hook or lug. Thereafter, I subject the displacedlug to a forging operation in a press, thereby bending and shaping it tofinal form. The blank is thus converted into a tie plate which isfinished except for a few minor additional operations such as a finalshaping, cold fiattening and burr removal if necessary.

The apparatus which I have devised for carrying out the above methodincludes a split die box having means for opening and closing it, andtwo separate punches adapted to cooperate therewith successively ineffecting the two stages of the method, i. e., initial punching andfinal shaping. The die is conveniently mounted on the platen of aconventional punch press and I provide special means for removablyattaching the punches to the ram thereof. This apparatus is claimed inmy application Serial No. 548,383, filed May 1l, 1956, which is adivision hereof.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and explanation which refer to theaccompanying drawings illustrating the present preferred embodiment andpractice.

In lthe drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of a base plate with the die and means foroperating it mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is an elevation showing the die and the first punch forcooperating therewith mounted on a press ram;

Figure 3 is a central vertical section through the ram and die with thefirst punch in place on the ram;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the press ram and punch, takenalong the plane of line IV-IV of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a partial side elevation of the tie-plate blank after thefirst or punching operation;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the second punch foreffecting the shaping or forging operation on the lug or hook, inconjunction with the die;

Figure 7 is a View similar to Figure 5 showing the blank after thesecond or forging operation;

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the finished tie fce plate after anoptional final shaping of the hook or lug; and

Figure 9 is a plan view of a finished tie plate.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and, for the present,particularly to Figures 1 through 4, a base plate 10 is adapted to besecured in position on the platen of a punch press -by bolts 11. Blocks12, 13 and 14 are secured to the base plate in any desired manner anddefine a pocket accommodating a die box 15 which is split on a central,vertical, longitudinal plane. The die halves are machined to providecavities therein which match when abutted to form a closed recess. A setscrew 16 holds the rear half of the die box in place. The front half issecured to a block 17 provided with a vertical slot 17a to accommodatethe head of a screw 18 which is threaded through a nut 19 upstanding onplate 10 and fixed thereto. A crank 20 on the outer end of the screwpermits it to be turned manually so as to retract the front half of thedie quickly from the fixed rear half or set it rmly thereagainst.

A supporting block 21 is secured to plate 10 with its top surface in thesa-me horizontal plane with those of blocks 12 and 14. An yL-sh-apedgage plate or stop 22 is secured to blocks 12 and 21 and has a block 23thereon provided with an overhanging lip 23a. The gage plate serves toposition accurately a tie-plate blank 24 when laid on blocks 12 and 21and pushed home against the inner edges of the plate 'as shown inFigures l and 2. An anvil 25 secured to the plate 10 adjacent block 12has one end 26 overhanging. The end 26 is finished square but the lowersurface thereof has a predetermined taper as shown at 26a in Figure 2.

The ram of a punch press indicated at 27 has a recess in its lower endto accommodate a seating block 28 held in place byl set screws 28a.Block 28 has a socket in its lower face to receive the upstandingreduced and tapered neck 29 of a punch 30. Block 28 also has atransverse bore therethrough in which a locking pin 31 is slidable. 'Iheouter end of the pin is supported by a bearing bracket 31a secured tothe ram. The pin has a stop collar 31b thereon adapted to engage thebracket 31a and limit outward movement of the pin. The neck 29 of punch30 has a hole therethrough which alines with the bore in the seatingblock 28 when the punch neck is bottomed in the recess in the block. Thepin 31 thus serves, when pushed in after positioning the punch, to lockthe latter firmly in place.

As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the lower portion of punch 30 isshaped and finished to displace, push down or express from a tie-plateblank 24, through the lower face thereof, a tongue 32 (see Figure 5).This it accomplishes by shearing the metal of the blank about threesides of the opening in die box 15, leaving the resulting tongueintegrally united with the blank at the fourth side, and bending thetongue downwardly about said fourth side. A punch 33 shown in Figure 6,is similar in general to punch 30 but is shaped to effect a shaping orforging operation on the tongue in die box 15, to form it into a hook orlug 34 (see Figure 7), the lower face of the punch having the shapedesired on the surface of the lug which is underneath when the ti'eplate is in position of ultimate use. Punch 33, of course, is insertedin the block 28 after the first punching operation, in lieu of punch 30.

The method of my invention will now be explained in greater detail. Itwill be recalled that the shearing of bar stock to length and thepunching of the spike holes therein has already been mentioned.Thereafter the resulting blanks are heated at one end to forgingtemperature. A blank when heated is laid on blocks 12 and 21 with itsheated end over die 15, and pushed against both `inner edges of gage 22.With punch 30 in position on ram 27 as shown in Figure 2, the punchpress is operated to cause a downward stroke of the ram. This drivespunch 30 through the blank, causing the shearing and displacement oftongue 32 downwardly into die box 15' (Figure 6) as just explained, andimparts a slight initial bend thereto.

When the press ram is retracted, leaving the blank in position on blocks17. and 21', pin `31 is pulled back, punch 3i) is removed and punch 33is inserted in its place and locked by restoring the pin to itsinnermost position. The press ram is then operated again. The secondstroke of the press ram causes the punch 33 to enter the hole in theblank formed by punch 30, and to forge and bend tongue 32 into the hookor lug 34 (Figure 7). The top and sides of the lug are shaped by thebottom and sides of the cavity in die box 15. The finished lug has avertically extending portion 35 and a generally horizontal portion 36extending at an angle thereto somewhat greater than 90. The latterportion, of course, is adapted to engage the top of the rail flange whenbutted firmly thereagainst. ri`he lip 23a on block 23 prevents the blankfrom rising with the rarn as it is retracted, should there be anytendency for it to do so. The quick locking and unlocking action of pin31 permits the changing of the punches and the accomplishment of theinitial punching and the tinal forging of the lug on the same heat,since there is but little cooling of the blank between strokes of thepress.

To remove the blank, crank 20 is operated to open the dic box 15.Thereafter, crank 20 is again operated to close the die box and punch 33is replaced by punch 30, whereupon the apparatus is ready for anotheroperating cycle.

If it be desired that the interior surfaces of these portions 35 and 36intersect to form a sharp dihedral angle instead of leaving a smallradius or fillet therebetween as.

shown in Figure 7, such result may be easily achieved by means of anvil2S. To this end, when the blank is removed from the die, after turningcrank 20 to retract the movable forward half thereof, it is placed onthe anvil with the lug down, i. e., without turning it over, and to theleft of the tapered overhanging end 26 of the anvil. The blank is thengiven one or two sharp pulls by the tongs in which it is held, seatingthe interior faces of the lug forcibly against thesquare-nished taperedend 26 of the anvil. The angle of this taper is the angle desiredbetween the under surface of the finished lug portion 36 and the body ofthe plate.` This final shaping operation leaves the lug in the conditionshown in Figure 8 and completes the hot-forging of the blank which isthen permitted to cool for finishing operations such as cold .flatteningand burr removal, if necessary, preparatory to inspection and shipment.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the inven tion ischaracterized by important advantages over known methods of making tieplates. ln the first place, the output per man-hour is increasedmaterially. In addition,` the prescribed tolerances for finisheddimensions may be more readily maintained and a high degree ofuniformity in the shape, location and disposition of the lug is achievedwithout extra care or special precautions.

Although l have disclosed herein the preferred practice of my invention,i intend to cover as well any change or modification therein which maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

l claim:

ln a method of making a tie plate having an opstanding lug including asubstantially vertical portion and an end portion bent over therefrom toengage the top of a rail tiange resting on the plate, the stepsincluding heating a length of fiat metal bar to forging temperature,driving into one of the wider faces of the bar and out through the otherand into a closed die box, a punch having a bottom sloping downwardlyfrom one side to the other, thereby expressing from said other face ofthe bar and bending downwardly therefrom a substantially straight tongueunited with the bar at one end only and sloping downwardly from said endbut spaced above the bottom of the box, then striking the tongue throughthe hole in the bar formed by said punch, with a second punch of acontour corresponding to the bottom of the box and effective to forgesaid tongue against the bottom of the box and thereby bend the portionof the tongue nearest the bar to a position substantially atright-angles thereto and the remainder of the tongue to a position at anacute angle to the bar, thus forminfy said tongue into said lug.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 52,502Baines Feb. 6, 1866 482,092 Lavelle Sept. 6, 1892 968,148 Goldie Aug.23, 1910 1,040,497 BOSler Oct. 8, 1912 1,236,062 DilworthV Aug. 7, 19171,472,867 Gauntt NOV. 6, 1923 1,788,225 Woodings lan. 6, 1931 2,024,870Oberg Dec. 17, i935 2,198,986 Bailey Apr. 30, 1940 2,306,657 WillardDec. 29, 1942 2,306,658 Willard Dec. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,565Great Britain Mar. 24, 1851

